Home / Rhodophyceae / Microreds / Ptilothamnion
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Name derivation:
Classification:
Ptilothamnion Thuret in Le Jolis 1863; 13 of 19 species descriptions are currently accepted taxonomically (Guiry and Guiry 2013) Order Ceramiales; Family Wrangeliaceae
Morphology:
Ptilothamnion sphaericum: Thallus forms rigid tufts (up to 2.5 cm) composed by ecorticated erect filaments that settle over rocky-sandy sustrates by mean of prostrate axes and rhizoids. Dense mass of prostrate axes irregularly branched, pinkish-red in color, 35-90 µm wide, and composed of cells 1.5 - 4 time longer than wide. Erect axes and rhizoids grow in middle position of prostrate cells. Ramification of the erect axes varies from a dense irregularly second arrangement of branches up to 4º order to axes unbranched. Axes bearing polysporangia are plentifully branched especially towards the tips. Erect axes dark red, sometimes brownish. Polysporangia are sessile, 1-2 per cell, are laterally produced near to the apex of the main axes and branches, in series or solitary (Tapia and Barbara 2005).
Similar genera:
Ptilothamnion richardsii, based on rbcL gene sequence, is a chantransia stage of Batrachospermum. Reported from southern hemisphere including Guyana (South America) and northern Queensland (Australia). (Vis et al. 2006).
Habitat:
Freshwater and marine (middle to lower intertidal zone), widespread worldwide, mainly warm temperate zones.
References:
Guiry, M.D. and G.M. Guiry 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 16 May 2013. Le Jolis, A. 1863. Liste des algues marines de Cherbourg. Mémoires de la Société Impériale des Sciences Naturelles de Cherbourg 10: 5-168, pls I-IV. Tapia, P.D., and I Barbara 2005. Biology, populations and distribution area of the European endemic species Ptilothamnion sphaericum (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) in the Iberian Peninsula. Thalassas 21(2):21-30. Vis, M.L., T.J. Entwisle, J.A. West and F.D. Ott 2006. Ptilothamnion richardsii (Rhodophyta) is a chantransia stage of Batrachospermum. European Journal of Phycology 41:125-130.